The grumpy thread

[155V6]

People who can't drive in the dark .I usually finish my deliveries around 5.00 pm,so the 5 or so mile journey back to the depot is just as it's nearly dark.The roads are mostly unlit & invariably I get stuck behind someone in a newish car who can drive at 50-60 on the straight bits,but has to slow down to about 20 to get round any slight curve.It's not even like they're in something 30 years old with rubbish lights

[Richard]

New cars do have rubbish lights. They kick out loads of light but you can't see anything.

[Polystratus]

Oh god yes... I work in a University, so often I have to wipe smelly students urine off the seat before I can take a dump. Mostly they're okay, but on the odd occasion you get a floater or someone who hasn't flushed their yellow piss away. Or shit right up under the rim and nearly as high as the seat I'm about to plonk my arse down onto. I mean Jesus, how do people do that??? Pub ones are generally worse (although there are exceptions). The kind of timewarp Victorian/50s/70s toilets in small "local" dives, with destroyed locks on the cubicle doors, often give a new meaning to the words putrid and vile. Following closely 'behind' are railway station toilets. They may have cleaned up their act recently, but, by God, in the 90s they smelt like glorified cesspits.But oh. The worst of the worst? The toilets in motorway services. By all that is holy.... The stuff I've seen/smelt in there... They are the p(iss sh)its.Mark.

I remember the toilets at Uni got frequently blocked up with loo paper - someone used an entire roll in one go, must had a huge backside ! Toilets on trains as I recall can be pretty rank, bit like those portaloos when they run out of water.

[Rusty Pelican]

Portaloos , or as I call them The Turdis,s can be really rank , loads of people at one event , only 5 of them , 2 days use , need i say more

[M'coli]

People who can't drive in the dark .I usually finish my deliveries around 5.00 pm,so the 5 or so mile journey back to the depot is just as it's nearly dark.The roads are mostly unlit & invariably I get stuck behind someone in a newish car who can drive at 50-60 on the straight bits,but has to slow down to about 20 to get round any slight curve.It's not even like they're in something 30 years old with rubbish lights

Or those twats who drive in the dark at 25mph but speed up as soon as you get into a lit area.

[brammy777]

People seem to get more impatient on the roads when its dark earlier now.Ive seen 3 cases of foolish driving lately:-Moron in a Vivaro cuts right in front of a car driver on a motorway sliproad, forcing said motorist onto the grass and nearly into a pole.-Moron in a 350Z undertaking everyone on M3 in the dark and leaving less than a foot of space when he shot in front of people.-Moron in Discovery goes down hill in front of us, during heavy rain last week and hits a massive patch of standing water and goes off the road. They were also breaking the speed limit by about 15mph. If the roundabout you just took had flooded dont you also think the bottom of a hill would have too?I know i dont drive yet, but i swear this time of year gives people an excuse to be twats on the roads.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Tell you what drives me mad, these fuggin farmer palmers who drive their tractor along the A47 at 7.45 am, holding up the traffic for miles. Get your tractor off the road during rush hour you bastards.

[dollywobbler]

I'm definitely more short-tempered in the dark, so I'm one of those idiots I think. I just hate it. It's driving because you need to, not because you enjoy it when it's dark. Especially when the 2CV has a feeble heater, the Bond's blower motor is broken and the BX seems to have a fairly genteel blower motor too. And a crappy single wiper. I hate not being able to see!!

[Milford Cubicle]

It's the time of year when 'winking headlights' become a menace. Don't other people check their headlights reflected in a window whenever they can?My mother was running about with no headlights at all until I picked up on it, only her sidelights and high beam bulbs were working. Scary. She was going around dazzling people because she couldn't work out what the problem was.

[dollywobbler]

Those projectoid hyperblindness headlamps are a real menace with the winking over bumps. Roads are not flat around here so I'm forever blinded. I do wonder why manufacturers bother to fit headlamp levelling too. I'm pretty sure no-one ever adjusts them! (I do by the way - 2CVs have it. BX levels the entire car...)

[wuvvum]

And a crappy single wiper. I hate not being able to see!!

+1. That's the one thing that annoys me about driving the Innocenti - it's only got one wiper, and because it's a small car and I'm fairly tall my eyes are more or less level with the big triangle in the top left corner of the screen that doesn't get wiped. Tuesday morning it was slinging it down and I just thought "sod it" and drove in in the Talbot. Both Talbot and Innocenti do have the merit of reasonable heaters though, plus fully functional rear wipers and demisters - I think the Talbot is the oldest car I've owned that doesn't have any dead wires in the HRW.

[Volksy]

Does your Innocenti have the same bizarre 2 speeds that uno's and pandas are blighted with? Fast intermitant, and loony 'i'm gonna throw the wiperblade off into passing traffic' speed?

[mnde]

And a crappy single wiper. I hate not being able to see!!

+1. That's the one thing that annoys me about driving the Innocenti - it's only got one wiper, and because it's a small car and I'm fairly tall my eyes are more or less level with the big triangle in the top left corner of the screen that doesn't get wiped. Tuesday morning it was slinging it down and I just thought "sod it" and drove in in the Talbot. Both Talbot and Innocenti do have the merit of reasonable heaters though, plus fully functional rear wipers and demisters - I think the Talbot is the oldest car I've owned that doesn't have any dead wires in the HRW.

I'd love to see some Youtubeage of the Talbot 'in action' - or even just shots of the interior.I've often wondered whether I could retro-fit a wiper motor from a single wiper Merc or something to my BX because the action to me seems a bit too leisurely, especially on wiper speed 2 in 'monsoon' conditions. I've got myself a NOS BX wiper motor to fit to see if that improves matters, but just haven't got round to it because of the amount of dismantling you need to do to get at the bolts...BTW Wobbler, have you tried RainX rain repellant? I think it's GR8 - quite eerie bowling along a motorway in driving rain without *having* to use the wiper(s). They also do an anti-fog product for the interior. I'm going to need that for the GSA soon because the rear demist doesn't work properly.I love the loony wipers on Unos and Pandas Mark.

[RedSparrow]

Does your Innocenti have the same bizarre 2 speeds that uno's and pandas are blighted with? Fast intermitant, and loony 'i'm gonna throw the wiperblade off into passing traffic' speed?

I have found that most BL / ARG products have a similar excellent system.EitherIntermittent - one stroke every 2 minutesorMental bashing and scratching of the screen mode

[dollywobbler]

Nope, not used RainX as it does my head in. Find it smears horribly. I prefer a properly clean screen but I think there's something on mine. Either that or the brand new wiper blade I've fitted isn't brand new at all...The anti-fog stuff I've found pretty crap too. I've just bought a new chamois demisting pad though, so I'm sorted now.

[Milford Cubicle]

By 'winking headlights' I meant the cars which are running about with only 1 working headlight bulb. I know what you mean about the modern headlights though, they seem to be designed to look trendy/imposing in the rear view mirror more than anything.What's the best way to clean a windscreen on the inside? I bought some purpose made wipes, they made it even more smeary than it was before.

[Guest]

It's the time of year when 'winking headlights' become a menace. Don't other people check their headlights reflected in a window whenever they can?

It's also the time of the year where you find out the headlamp aim is miles out on every single taxi in existence.Rear view mirrors with the flick switch to make them point somewhere else become very worthwhile around now,, get a Range Rover behind you, flick the mirror down, C U L8R!

[Volksy]

I've found if you clean the inside of your screen with a strong water/washing up liquid solution, dont rinse, then polish it dry with newspaper it helps stop it fogging up, and it clears in seconds using just the fan. As soon as you start wiping it, thats when you get the fogging problem, as water molecules 'stick' to the crap on the screen.Works on bathroom mirrors a treat too! /kim&aggie modeMy old man was complaining about his glasses, and even went to the optition to get his eyes checked as he was having trouble seeing/driving at night, I drove his car a week later an realised that the inside of the screen was filthy, i cleaned it and hey presto, he stopped hitting things

[garethj]

What's the best way to clean a windscreen on the inside? I bought some purpose made wipes, they made it even more smeary than it was before.

I use Autoglym glass polish, works very well

[Cavcraft]

What's the best way to clean a windscreen on the inside? I bought some purpose made wipes, they made it even more smeary than it was before.

Newspaper.To clean it at the same time use hot water with a dash of washing up liquid. Dampen cloth (don't have it soaking wet) then wipe off with dry newspaper.Back o/t and 'ranting':TURN YOUR FUCKING FOG LIGHTS OFF YOU MORONS IT'S RAIN, NOT FOG.

[Guest]

Hey look, three handy glass cleaning tips all at once!I just tend to drive around squinting through smeared windscreens, you get used to it.

[retrogeezer]

Followed someone last might that braked from 30 to 10mph EVERY time another car came in the opposite direction. I'd love to see their eye test.

[wuvvum]

Does your Innocenti have the same bizarre 2 speeds that uno's and pandas are blighted with? Fast intermitant, and loony 'i'm gonna throw the wiperblade off into passing traffic' speed?

Nope, it has two fairly sensible speeds and no intermittent. I'm actually puzzled as to what the wiper mechanism is off - the car seems to be a mélange of Fiat and Daihatsu bits, but Pandas and Unos are as per your description and I can't think of any Daihatsus with single wipers.

[Volksy]

Followed someone last might that braked from 30 to 10mph EVERY time another car came in the opposite direction. I'd love to see their eye test.

Know exactly what you mean, I was driving over to Ilkley last night to by huge amounts of cheese, and was following a Civic doing just that, also when it passed traffic islands, people turning, waiting to pull out of junctions etc...

[mnde]

TURN YOUR FUCKING FOG LIGHTS OFF YOU MORONS IT'S RAIN, NOT FOG.

+ eleventy billion.AlternativelyIT'S FOGGY / RAINING HARD. PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON YOU MORONS.My other half doesn't like it when I get worked up about people driving without their lights on in reduced visibility, saying I should concentrate on my own driving and they can go hang. But it really gets on my tits. When I was taught to drive, my instructor told me to turn on dipped headlights (not just sidelights) at the FIRST sign of rain. There was an old duffer in an Escort estate on the A3 one day last year following me in a torrential downpour with no lights on. Cue me operating hazards, rear fogs on and off, until he got the message.... Yeah, I should have been concentrating 100% on my own driving. Why do people believe if they think they can "see" they're ok? See and BE seen. Re. "winking headlights" what is it with Peugeot 206s and FAILED headlamp bulbs?? I swear, 1 in 2 of the 206s I see on the road at night has one headlamp out...Mark.

[Timewaster]

Re. "winking headlights" what is it with Peugeot 206s and FAILED headlamp bulbs?? I swear, 1 in 2 of the 206s I see on the road at night has one headlamp out...Mark.

3 reasons.1. 206's blow headlamp bulbs with alarming regularity. (See Mk4 Astra)2. 206's are generally driven by the sort of people who dont even notice.3. Have you ever tried to change a headlamp bulb on a 206? Its a **** of a job. On the drivers side you have to dismantle the washer bottle just to get the cover off and although the later, clear glass headlamp models are easier than older ones they are still a nightmare.It once took me almost an hour to change 2 bulbs on a 206, and I was fitting bulbs to 5 or 6 cars a day at the time - so I knew what I was doing.

[mnde]

Followed someone last might that braked from 30 to 10mph EVERY time another car came in the opposite direction. I'd love to see their eye test.

Know exactly what you mean, I was driving over to Ilkley last night to by huge amounts of cheese, and was following a Civic doing just that, also when it passed traffic islands, people turning, waiting to pull out of junctions etc...

Argh. Similarly, I can't stand people who are seemingly afraid of driving in the dark. Stretch of the A320 between Guildford and Woking, clear night, no rain, light traffic, 60 limit going down to 50 about 3/4 of the way along. I was stuck behind a fugging Honda doing 35 to 40 all the way, with no opportunity to pass. If you're that afraid, just don't go out in the dark!!Mark.

[Pete-M]

Scallies in 2 year old Golfs / Astras / 3 series.Why do they insist on;A: Driving with the seat back almost touching the rear window. B: Always being on the phone.C: Never acknowledging anyone else on the road.D: Never having a full set of working lightsE: Never indicating.F: Never wearing seatbeltsG: Trying to keep up with the Audi in the wet

[Mr H Sceptre]

Scallies in 2 year old Golfs / Astras / 3 series.Why do they insist on;A: Driving with the seat back almost touching the rear window.

I'd noticed quite a lot of the black & Asian lads driving like this, so I asked my Asian mate, Asif, about it. He said that a lot of your gangster types in the rough parts of LA etc drive sitting low & with their seats dead far back because it offers more protection (from the B pillar) from potential shootings. And because some folk these days like to think the whole 'gangsta' image is cool, they copy it.

[Volksy]

I drive like this in 'Da Volvo' tis it becoz I is Gangsta?

 

Nope, had a borked knee for the past year so have to have the seat way back